UNITED BY BLOOD, SPLIT BY POLITICS

AIR travel out of Kolkata begins with time travel.

- PRATIK KANJILAL

Your cab drives to the airport down VIP Road, so named because when it was built in 1961, only VIPs could fly. Like many features of Kolkata, the airport is named after Netaji, but authentic natives still call it Dum Dum, which is the name of the area. Nearby was the Dum Dum Ordnance Factory, where a Raj official invented the dumdum bullet in 1890, which helped win many colonial wars until it was banned under the Hague Convention.The rumour that British cartridges were greased with forbidden fats, which triggered the rising of 1857, could also have begun here.

The last sign of history as your cab turns towards the airport is one which says that had you carried on straight, you would have been on Jessore Road. It is part of the Grand Trunk Road, which has been on official records from the 12th century. In 1971, Indian troops and armour went down Jessore Road to liberate Bangladesh, and there began a history of awkwardness, unease and loaded silences that have marked relations between the two countries. And now, it isn't silent any more. It's loud, angry and destructive.